the world's always amazed
at how much cash you made
but not at how you made it
it's just strange


Charline von Heyl, Night Doctor, 2013

* Klipschutz is touring the Northwest, reading supporting his new collection This Drawn & Quartered Moon. Here are this weekend's stops:

SEPTEMBER 27
Planet Earth Reading Series: @ 7:30 p.m.
The Moka House, 1633 Hillside Ave., Victoria, B.C.
klipschutz & Dawn Kresan – open mic before features

SEPTEMBER 29
WORD Vancouver Festival: 2:45-3:00 p.m.
outside Main Library

SEPTEMBER 30
Hogan's Alley Readings @ 6:00 p.m.
klipschutz & Dennis E. Bolen
Host: Timothy McShay
Hogan's Alley Cafe, 789 Gore Avenue, Vancouver

OCTOBER 2
Last Words Books, 7:00 p.m.
klipschutz reads
211 4th Avenue East, Olympia, Washington 98501

-- more to follow.


The Jobholder
-- David Ignatow

I stand in the rain waiting for my bus
and in the bus I wait for my stop.
I get let off and go to work
where I wait for the day to end
and then go home, waiting for the bus,
of course, and my stop.

And at home I read and wait
for my hour to go to bed
and I wait for the day I can retire
and wait for my turn to die.


At the Lions Head
-- David Markson

Vodka-weary
I scowl at the bar
And confront a midnight revelation:
In ten years
I have contributed thirty thousand, cash,
to the fiscal well-being
of this saloon.

If I still wake, mornings, to
Reality,
Is there a refund?

just unlock my mind


André Ethier, Untitled, 2005

* From Conversations with a Super-Swinger, a 1969 Playboy interview of Joe Namath:

Playboy: The Broadway Joe legend also pictures you as one of the great womanizers of our time. Do you think your reputation for amorous exploits is merited?

Namath: I think it's merited, in the sense that I'm young, single, I have some money, I'm in the press a lot, and so I do all right with the ladies.

Playboy: What about the thousands of sexual conquests that have been attributed to you?

Namath: Oh, I wouldn't put the number that high.

Playboy: How high would you put it?

Namath: A conservative estimate?

Playboy: That would be fine.

Namath: I'd say at least 300—but that's a conservative estimate. Probably too conservative, because when I was in boring classes at Alabama, I used to start making out lists to see how well I was doing and I guess I was pretty close to 300 by the time I graduated.

Playboy: You say that with a great big smile. Are those fond memories?

Namath: They sure are. And the older I get, the more I enjoy sex—and the more I learn about it. For instance, when I was younger, the aim of making love was simply to reach a climax, achieve your own satisfaction and not even worry about your partner's. Well, as you grow up, you start understanding that sex is a two-way street and that it's much better for both of you to be sexually satisfied. Once you realize this, you should really go all out and make a sincere effort to make 'em happy, because then sex becomes a very beautiful thing.
...
Playboy: Do you think you're as good in bed as you are on a football field?

Namath: I can't honestly answer that question, because in football, there are comparisons you can make, but I don't think you can do the same with sex. First of all, you're only at your best with a girl who really turns you on. It's a total thing that has to do with how much feeling she has for you and how you feel about her, and that's more important than if she's beautiful or well built. You certainly can't measure your performance by the number of climaxes you reach, because after the first few times, you just can't expect to keep having orgasms. I think the important thing is how long you're able to make love. With the right girl, a guy can go just about all night long. And there have been lots of times when I've done just that. I'm a great believer in sex.

Playboy: We've noticed that. One of sports' great traditions decrees that the night before the big game, the athlete goes to bed early—and by himself. Do you?

Namath: No. I spent the nights before the Jets' two biggest games last year—for the AFL championship and the Super Bowl—with girls. But I don't consider that bad or foolish of me. Look, I'm a football player, and that's my number-one thing. I'm not about to take a chance on how I perform by breaking my own schedule. But I've been playing football for a long time, and by now, I know what I should do and shouldn't do to stay ready at all times. The night before a game, I prepare myself both mentally and physically for the next day. I think a ballplayer has to be relaxed to play well; and if that involves being with a girl that night, he should do it. If some ballplayers don't feel that way, they shouldn't do it. But I feel that way.

Playboy: Do you make a point of going to bed with a girl on the eve of a game?

Namath: I try to; it depends on how I feel that night. Before one game last year, I just sat home by myself and watched television, drank a little tequila to relax and went to sleep fairly early. But most of the nights before games, I'll be with a girl. One of the Jets' team doctors, in fact, told me that it's a good idea to have sexual relations before a game, because it gets rid of the kind of nervous tension an athlete doesn't need.

MFT (mother fuckin trio)
Nice Breeze
Dave Jones

Tuesday September 17

8pm

Wonderland Ballroom
1101 Kenyon Street nw wdc

FREE

It has a nice ring when you laugh


Jean Dubuffet, Mêle Moments, 1976

Vanishing Point
-- Klipschutz

-Did the President draw a red line?

-So they say, why boy.

-In sand? Wet or dry? Were there babes?

-Hell yeah, wet as piss, ass for days.

-Any oil? From a spill? Why red
instead of, I don’t know, bright blue?

-You axe a lotta questions, Poindexter.

-Maybe it was red but not a line.

-Let me break it down: You a cop?

-No line of his will alter how I see.

-Charlie Brown, you no Picasso either.


Sad Advice
-- Robert Creeley

If it isn't fun, don't do it.
You'll have to do enough that isn't.

Such is life, like they say,
no one gets away without paying

and since you don't get to keep it
anyhow, who needs it.

I'm gonna shine out in the wild kindness
and hold the world to its word


Bill Fisher, Untitled 7, 2007

* Love this: Please Stop Complaining About How Busy You Are. excerpt:

My favorite "busy" humble-brag was that of a potential client who apologized for lack of communication due to a "week-long fire drill." What does that even mean? Does this mean there were fake fires, but not real ones, all week? Does calling it a "drill" mean that everything is okay? Is your business in flames? Should I call someone?

Then there was the date I had with a fellow who was so busy "crashing on deadlines" that he asked me to "just make a reservation somewhere" for him. I was floored.

So much of this is about out-doing each other. To say that "I'm busier than you are" means I'm more important, or that my time is more valuable, or that I am "winning" at some never-finished rat race to Inbox Zero. (Inbox Zero is another absurd contest to tackle at another time.) What you're trying to say with these responses is: I'm busier, more in-demand, more successful.

Here's the thing: it's harming how we communicate, connect, and interact. Everyone is busy, in different sorts of ways. Maybe you have lots of clients, or are starting a new business, or are taking care of a newborn. The point is this: with limited time and unlimited demands on that time, it's easy to fill your plate with activities constantly. But this doesn't mean that you should.

To assume that being "busy" (at this point it has totally lost its meaning) is cool, or brag-worthy, or tweetable, is ridiculous. By lobbing these brags, endlessly puffing our shoulders about how "up to my neck" we are, we're missing out on important connections with family and friends, as well as personal time. In addition to having entire conversations about how busy we are, we fail to share feelings with friends and family, ask about important matters, and realize that the "busy" is something that can be put on hold for a little while.

* "Never treat your audience as customers; always as partners." -- James Stuart